Date of Award

5-2025

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

History

First Committee Advisor

Liam Riordan

Second Committee Member

Joel Anderson

Third Committee Member

Anne Knowles

Additional Committee Members

Mazie Hough

Richard Judd

Abstract

Women in the early modern Anglo-American world had dependent status and were widely seen as inferior to men, yet they played diverse roles that maintained and perpetuated society. Largely seen as figures inside the home, their roles and duties impacted the world outside of their homes. Colonial women in the American Revolution faced the challenging task of maintaining their households, raising children, and supporting their spouses in a period of sweeping and uncertain change. Loyalist women faced economic, social, and political pressure from Patriot authorities and mobilized community and friendship networks to circumvent the threats that transformed public life and violated the domestic space of their households. The community connections women had through their family or friends greatly impacted their ability to make sense of the upheaval of war. Examining the wartime experiences of elite non-Patriot women through their own words reveals the complex ways that Loyalist and disaffected women drew on domestic, female, and neighborly resources to navigate severe disruption in Revolutionary Philadelphia.

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